Nanoparticle in Situ Surface Growth for Direct Fabrication
of Functional Patterned Nanomaterials

Due to their unique physicochemical properties, nanopatterned surfaces can contribute to important technological innovations for efficient optical and communication devices, long-lasting batteries, and ultrasensitive diagnostic devices. Bottom-up synthesis enable to construct nanomaterials atom-by-atom from precursors using synthetic chemistry, usually producing colloidal nanoparticle suspensions that are later assembled on a surface. Alternatively, the fabrication process can be greatly simplified by instead applying bottom-up growth directly on a substrate. However, these “in situ” growth routes remain largely unexplored and poorly understood.

To address this knowledge gap and improve versatility and quality of this class of approaches, I propose to use an unconventional methodology called “chemical contrast in situ growth” or CC-iSG, where precise nanometric chemical contrast drives nanostructure formation at pre-determined sites.

With NANOGROWDIRECT, I will develop a foundational understanding of CC-iSG through the interrogation of fundamental synthetic aspects, and maximize its potential for achieving exemplary control over nanoscale properties of nanosurfaces and metamaterials. I will interrogate the effect of the identity, concentration, and delivery of various reactants to the pre-determined reaction sites, with focus on chemical control (Objective 1) and fluid dynamic control (Objective 2). I will also test the use non-chemical external factors, such as electromagnetic fields (Objective 3), and electrochemical potentials (Objective 4).

In the short term, CC-iSG will open up unexplored directions for engineering physicochemical properties of patterned nanosurfaces, combining wet-chemistry and external stimuli. Consequently in the long term, the far-reaching impacts of NANOGROWDIRECT will go beyond the field of nanochemistry, and yield breakthroughs in (photo/electro)catalysis, energy production and storage, medicine, and communications.